Indian crypto exchanges struggling to survive, attempting to prolong operations

Indian cryptocurrency exchanges are facing a difficult time as they try to extend their financial runways and stay afloat. To achieve this, they are cutting costs, renegotiating contracts with partners, suspending employee pay hikes, conducting layoffs, exploring new revenue models, and rebranding themselves. CoinDesk spoke to employees and senior executives at six major Indian crypto platforms, who revealed that their runways range from 21 months to four years. However, the imposition of stiff taxes on crypto profits and transactions by the Indian government has made their survival challenging. The taxes have led to a crypto “brain drain,” plummeting crypto trading volumes, and a “shadow ban” that has cut off banking access to crypto exchanges. India’s cryptocurrency industry’s advocacy body was disbanded, and enforcement agencies were investigating at least ten crypto exchanges for allegedly assisting foreign firms launder money via crypto. Despite this, India has prioritized framing globally coordinated rules for the crypto sector as the president of the Group of 20 (G-20) in 2023. Indian exchanges are taking various steps to guard against the scenario where the tax regime stays the same, including diversifying, investing heavily in innovation and technology, and engaging lawmakers through the industry’s policy advocacy body.This piece of HTML describes how several Indian cryptocurrency exchanges are dealing with the current bear market and laying off staff. Despite these challenges, some exchanges like WazirX have a 21-month runway and are focusing on renegotiating contracts with partners to survive. Their strategy is to keep costs low, attract lucrative partnerships, and stay focused on crypto. Similarly, ZebPay and BuyUCoin are also trying to increase lending value and concentrate on user growth, hoping to use profits made during previous bull runs to survive. On the other hand, CoinSwitch has pivoted from being a crypto exchange to a crypto investment platform and is excited to grow and evolve with its 19 million registered users. Finally, Giottus, which is recognized for its staking service and multilingual options, says it has a two-year runway under current conditions and is focusing on operational excellence and reducing perceived risks associated with exchanges.

Subburaj mentioned that Giottus has a small marketing team even during times of high market activity, and like other companies, they have collaborated with TaxNodes to improve their operations.

Read More: Indian Authorities Asked to Restore Crypto Exchanges’ Access to UPI

This article was edited by Nikhilesh De and Sandali Handagama.

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